How Do You Market a Video on YouTube?

The creation of YouTube videos is something that we assist brands with frequently here at Beverly Boy Productions, and we enjoy the time we spend working for our clients. However, after the video is created, many businesses face unique challenges when it comes to promoting the content. In fact, there’s a question that we frequently receive and it goes something like this, “How do you market a video on YouTube?” 

While there is no steadfast method of marketing a YouTube video that will work for every business or brand there are some specific processes that tend to be commonplace when it comes to promoting YouTube content. Use this guide to help you find new ways to market a video on YouTube whether it’s your very first video or your 100th, we hope this guide has some helpful solutions to your question, “How do you market a video on YouTube?”

youtube homepage for keywords

Prepare, Prepare, Prepare

When it comes to figuring out, how to market a video on YouTube, the first consideration is really all about preparation. You absolutely must be prepared if you want to be successful on YouTube because there is a ton of competition and for every second you waste not preparing, your competitor is probably working hard to overcome a challenge you’re avoiding! 

Before you post your video, make sure that you have done some research so that you know:

  • What keywords to use in your title, description, and tags.
  • What keywords are trending – you should optimize around these terms if you can!
  • How you can tie in your keywords to your video before you produce it!

If you’re not sure how to find keywords to target your YouTube video content around, try tools like, SEMRush, Moz, and UberSuggest to perform keyword research for free or with one of their paid options.

Focus Your Marketing on the First 24 Hours

play youtube video button

A lot can go good, or bad, in the first 24 hours after you post a YouTube video. This is one of the reasons we mention preparing but it’s also why we’re going to talk about preparation again here. When it comes to the question, “How do you market a video on YouTube,” the first 24 hours are essential to your success. This is when your video is going to potentially show up on users’ homepages, but only if YouTube sees that your video is getting a lot of traction from your own efforts.

So, right after you publish your video, you should be taking steps to drive your own traffic to the content so that YouTube will see the activity and be more likely to show your video to others. Consider sending an email to your subscribers that links to your video or even building up subscriber anticipation in the days leading up to your video so that you can maximize interaction the day it launches.

Keep Promoting Your Video 

Promoting (or marketing) your YouTube video across various channels and platforms will be a key factor in the overall success of your content. The more you market and promote, the better your chances will be for success. You’ll want to be sure to:

  • Post your video on any forums that are appropriate.
  • Share your video in your own email campaigns.
  • Post your video to your social media profiles. 
  • Promote your video on other websites that allow you to post such as Reddit, Quora, or other platforms

The more you share links to your video with others, the more likely your content will be to have increased reach and higher overall traffic.

Learn from Other Content Creators

If you’re having trouble finding new ways to market your video on YouTube, consider checking out other content creators to learn from them. Whether you follow a few favorite channels or otherwise seek industry experience, sometimes learning from others can be the key to your own success. 

Just consuming YouTube content from other creators in your industry that are doing well can help you to come up with new ideas for your own content to post or create. This is also a good way to learn how to:

  • Improve your video thumbnails to attract a larger audience.
  • Improve your channel art to increase audience engagement.
  • Find other channels, groups, or opportunities to share your YouTube video content.
  • Find other influencers that might be willing to help you promote your channel or content.

There are entire channels that claim they assist with this same question, “How do you market a video on YouTube.” Find a channel that you love and follow it! Learn from others and try out their tactics!

Work with Professionals

Learning how to market a video on YouTube is all about improving your content game and increasing your networking so that you can get your video in front of a larger audience. For some brands, this might look like hiring a professional film crew to assist in the video production process so that you can create a YouTube video that is worthy of increased social shares and views. For others, this might look like working closely with social media influencers or other YouTubers that are willing to help you improve the reach and overall success of your brand. 

No matter how you go about it, these are just a few of the options that might help you successful market a video on YouTube. Ultimately, when we get asked, “How do you market a video on YouTube?” we’re bound to provide an answer that includes any of these options and more to assist in the process because there’s no one-size-fits-all process to marketing a YouTube video.